Chapter Two: Recovery

I opened my eyes to see Charlie asleep on the armchair and a muscular man I recalled to be Sam sleeping on a pellet between me and my father. He had a washcloth in his hand and two buckets full of what appeared to be ice water on the floor beside him, one looked melted while the other looked quite fresh. He looked just as I remembered him from the beach. He was with the Quileute boys when some kids from school and I went to the Indian reservation in La Push.

I felt much better except the blankets over me made me too hot. Tossing them off weakly, I tried wetting my very sore dry throat to ask Sam for some water to drink. "Sam? Sam, wake up please. Sam!" I whispered hoarsely.

He jumped up suddenly, taking a moment to look at his surroundings before noticing that I was awake and gazing at him. "You're awake. How do you feel?" He whispered back, though it didn't take the deepness out of his voice.

"Okay, I guess. Could I please have some water?" I whispered in an even raspier voice that really hurt my throat.

"Oh! Sorry here, drink this." He grabbed an empty glass from the kitchen and dipped it into the bucket of ice water that looked fresh, kneeling beside me he carefully tipped the glass to help me drink. The water was so cold but that didn't matter as a rush of relief swept through my aching throat after a few gulps.

"Thank you, Sam." I paused for a moment before continuing. "I know you found me and took care of me even though you didn't have to. That was kind of you, thank you."

"You're welcome. I know I didn't have to take care of you, Bella, I wanted to. What kind of man would I be if I found you but didn't stay?"

"I don't know, but you did stay. Has Charlie been asleep long?"

"No, he dozed off about two hours ago."

"Wait, then that would mean you had less sleep!" I whispered in shock. "You stayed awake to watch over me?"

"Yes, so did your father." Sam whispered back, chuckling.

"It seems that I have something else to thank you for." Then I noticed how hungry I was, I could eat a horse! "Is there anything to eat?"

"Yeah, I cooked a large pot of hamburger helper and a medium pan of Mac and cheese. Feel up to eating it?"

"Yep, if you would bear with me a few moments and kindly help me to the kitchen, I would be very grateful."

He stood, placing a hand under my arm and one on my waist to gently lift me up into a standing position. He patiently waited while my legs adjusted, watching for my small nod to continue slowly toward the kitchen. I noticed he was very warm, but I didn't want to comment in case it offended him. He sat me down at the kitchen table despite my feeble protests, moving to the stove to scoop a healthy portion of cheeseburger Hamburger Helper and Mac and cheese on a plate before setting it in front of me. However he did not get a plate of food for himself, which intrigued me.

"You aren't eating?" I asked Sam curiously, cocking my head to the side.

"No, I ate a few helpings earlier." He replied simply.

"Oh, I see. Well that would explain a lot considering it's still decently warm. I'm sorry if I caused you to lose too much sleep. You must be exhausted." I said softly, guilt gnawing at my insides. I knew his lack of sleep was my fault. I never should have run into the forest.

"Not really. Just take a cat nap later, I'll be fine by tonight." He shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Yeah . . ."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about stuff. What happened to me?"

"You had a really high fever, Bella. Charlie had to call Dr. Gerandy over to help us get your fever down and it took most of the night. I was beginning to doubt you would wake up."

"Oh. I know that I woke up at least once but everything is so foggy that I can't make it out. The only thing I remember is seeing you next to me before I was unconscious again. Thank you, Sam." I cleared my throat awkwardly, standing up with the new strength I had gained from eating and drinking. "You should go home and get some rest, I'll be fine."

"Only since Charlie is here will I leave. Take care of yourself; I don't know when I'll be able to come back for a visit. Goodbye, Bella." Sam said before turning to leave.

"Goodbye, Sam." I watched him disappear down the road, and then headed upstairs to take a shower and change into clean clothes. I felt like an idiot for not showering before he left so I didn't smell like a pig. What would he think of me after today? I thought fretfully with a groan.

The hot water felt heavenly on my skin, but now that everything was said and done I began to feel hollow. I felt like something was missing. I tried to read Lord of the Rings while lying on my bed; however I didn't get very far into the book before I gave up for lack of concentration. I sighed and tried pacing the room for a while, brushing through my hair with my fingers absently. I thought back to when I first arrived in Forks, how I hated everything about this small town and couldn't wait to have a chance to move back to Phoenix. Now I couldn't bring myself to leave Forks, even if I had the choice to. Whether I had intended it to or not, Forks rubbed off on me in more ways than one.

"I thought I heard you up here. It's good to see that you are awake." A familiar voice said from the doorway.

"I talked to Sam a little bit before he left. I found out that you had been staying up all night to look after me. Thanks for everything, dad."

"Well now, you're welcome. What did you guys talk about?" Charlie asked with too much interest to suit me.

"Dad, we just talked about what happened last night. He explained that I had a fever and that you both took care of me with the help of Dr. Gerandy." I told him in a bit of a warning, the last thing I needed was for him to get ideas.

"Well, yes we did. He found you, you know."

"I know, he told me and I think I always knew from the skin. I've seen him before in La Push when I went to the beach with some friends. He was there with some of his friends and we kind of hung out a bit."

"I have to go to work, kiddo, so I'll see you tonight okay?"

"Okay, be safe."

"I will." And with that Charlie left for work, leaving me to continue pacing my room to think about anything to keep my mind off of what had happened yesterday in peace.